I’ve been made aware of the distress some Christian viewers of the “Redeeming Love” movie have over the love scenes, and I want to address those concerns. Every scene in the movie is there for a purpose. There is nothing gratuitous in any scene. Director D.J. Caruso and I were very careful and mindful of what is presented.
Michael’s character has always been of paramount importance. The Biblical book of Hosea is an allegory about God’s love for His people and is the inspiration for Redeeming Love – the book and the movie. Michael Hosea is an example of the discipline and love it takes to live a Christlike life.
Let’s look at Michael’s life which is more fully rendered in the book and clear in the movie.
Michael’s father, a plantation owner, sent a slave girl to Michael’s bedroom so that his son would “know the full benefits of ownership”. Michael fled temptation. He left home and didn’t look back. “Sometimes you have to leave what you were born into in order to live the life God has for you.”
Michael’s reputation mattered. Paul, Michael’s brother-in-law, knew him as an honorable, content man who did not frequent brothels. Paul says Michael is “the best man I know”.
Michael asked God for a wife, someone to share his life and possessions, someone with whom he could have a family. God drew his attention to Angel as she walked the street. Michael knew “She’s the girl.”
Michael obeyed God’s leading. He didn’t hesitate to go into the brothel to offer Angel, a sinner, a new life. When he entered her room, he didn’t gawk at her. He looked away. He turned away. When he did look at her, he saw the whole woman, not just the body on display for a man to buy and use. He saw the enslaved woman needing rescue. He saw a woman he loved and wanted to offer a full, abundant life.
Though Angel rejected Michael repeatedly, Michael doesn’t give up on her. Just as God never gives up on us, Michael did not give up on Angel. He doesn’t see her as a prostitute. He sees her as a woman chosen of God to be his future bride. Michael trusted in the Word of God. “She’s the one.”
Michael pays her debt before Angel agrees to Michael’s proposal. He marries her. Just as Jesus paid our debt and made us the Bride of Christ, Michael lives out that role for Angel.
Michael, still a virgin, is passionately in love with his wife. He doesn’t give in to his desires or demand his marital rights. He courts his wife gently, teaching her a new way of life on the farm. When she runs away, he goes after her, but gives her the choice of whether to pursue her destructive venture or return to warmth, food, and husband. When she returns in defeat and misery, Michael treats her with compassion. He understands how pride can be a stumbling block to new life. Michael serves her. He washes her dirty, bruised and bleeding feet.
Months pass as Michael tenderly draws his wife to him. She tries to break him with temptation. He stands firm in faith. It takes time and patience. He speaks truth to her. “You didn’t choose the life you had, but you can choose the life you want.” Her heart has softened, and she loves him. Michael knows the time has come to consummate the marriage.
The scene that follows is about the beautiful intimacy of marriage. In the brothel, Angel was dead, hopeless, resigned to being abused and used, every man nameless and the same. In this scene, she’s in love with her husband. She says his name. “Michael.” The Book of Common Prayer (1552) says “with my body I thee worship”. This scene is not about having sex. It is about making love within the proper boundaries. Despite her past, Angel is like a virgin bride, vulnerable and frightened as to what this all means. Michael doesn’t look at her body. Michael looks into her eyes. He understands her inner walls of self-protection have come down. He sees she loves him. He cares what she is feeling emotionally and physically. Intercourse within marriage is a gift from God. It is not just for procreation. It is for our pleasure. It is to bond us even more fully to one another.
The hilltop love scene shows Angel’s sacrifice. She is giving up a life with Michael so that he can have what she believes she cannot give him: children. As his wife, she wants to give him all the pleasure she can before she leaves. In the book, Michael knows what’s happening and is pleading with God, and God tells him to let her go. “Would you have her hang on her cross forever?” Angel has made Michael her god. She must seek the one true God, Jesus Christ. Michael’s greatest battle begins. He has shown her the way, but will she walk in it? Michael must trust God to watch over and care for his wife. He must trust God will win her heart.
A note to those of you who struggle with pornography. You can learn from Michael Hosea. I hope by the end of “Redeeming Love” you will understand and grieve over the horrendous cost to the women, girls and boys who are sex trafficked. Every time a person clicks on porn, they pay Duke and then watch the use and abuse of enslaved human beings. Sex trafficking doesn’t just wound physically, mentally, and emotionally. It wounds the soul. Remember the Lord! Remember His passion for His children. Nothing is ever done in secret.
In summary, all of these scenes in the movie matter. They are not gratuitous or simply “thrown in”. They are integral to the very heart of the Biblical story in Hosea and personify the passion of a Heavenly Father who pursues us with a love that knows no end. My prayer is that you, too, experience this love of Christ.